Franklin Lakes doctor sentenced in kickback scheme

A Franklin Lakes physician was sentenced Wednesday to five months in federal prison and five months of home confinement for accepting more than $5,600 in kickbacks from a diagnostic facility in return for referring patients for MRI scans.

Calling it a “serious offense” that exploited health insurance programs for the impoverished and elderly, U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi also imposed a $30,000 fine on Dr. Dov Rand, 48.

Cecchi noted that Rand, who practiced in West Orange and specialized in physical medicine and rehabilitation, had an annual salary of $600,000, which, she said, was “clearly sufficient to support his family” and enjoy a “comfortable standard of living.”

Rand was arrested in a December 2011 roundup that netted a dozen of other doctors and a nurse practitioner on charges of accepting illegal cash payments from Orange Community MRI — a radiology and diagnostic facility in Orange — in exchange for referring Medicare and Medicaid patients. He pleaded guilty last May to one count of violating the federal health care program anti-kickback statute.

Standing before the judge Wednesday, Rand broke into tears as he apologized for his misconduct and the “pain, embarrassment, stress and suffering” he brought upon his wife and children.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Rand said. “There’s no excuse for what I’ve done. I’m very sorry.”

More than 40 people, mostly patients who turned out in support of Rand, packed the gallery.

In a plea for a probationary term, Rand’s attorney, Anthony Pope, said there was no evidence any of the MRI scans the doctor ordered for patients were unnecessary. He likened the kickbacks to a gratuity and said it was unlikely Rand would ever commit another offense.

“He’s a human being who for so many years has done everything right,” Pope said, adding Rand was the kind of doctor who “goes above and beyond” for his patients.

One of those patients, Kenneth Solomon of Newark, said he saw many doctors who were unable to help him before Rand got him out of a wheelchair and walking again with a cane.

“All I’m asking you is please don’t take him away from us,” Solomon pleaded.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mack said a prison term of 10 to 16 months was appropriate for the crime.

“This was not a one-time lapse of judgment,” Mack said, noting Rand received monthly envelopes of cash over a two-year period in return for patient referrals.

The additional income, Mack added, “was not something he or his family needed.”

In an “unguarded moment,” Rand told a cooperating witness after a cash exchange that he had been filmed on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” and he’ll be getting “a lot more patients” to refer for tests, Mack said. Rand later told the cooperating witness, “My allegiance is to you,” Mack said, adding, “This is the kind of allegiance that Congress wanted to stamp out.”

The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners will eventually decide whether to suspend or revoke Rand’s license to practice.